Snow shovel and method of using the same

ABSTRACT

A snow shovel and a method of using the snow shovel are provided. The snow shovel comprises an elongated shaft, a blade movably coupled to the shaft, a lock mechanism for locking the shaft to the blade and a spring-loaded cable running through the elongated shaft. The lock mechanism comprises a plurality of notches located on a rear surface of the blade and a locking bar attached to the spring-loaded cable. Upon pulling upward the spring-loaded cable, the locking bar is released from the notch such that the blade can be adjusted relative to the shaft.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/930,331, the contents of which are explicitly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

This invention relates generally to shovels, and particularly to snow shovels having a shaft and a blade, and methods of using a snow shovel for facilitating removal of snow.

BACKGROUND

Various types of snow shovels have been widely known and used for removing snow from one location to another location. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,808 discloses a snow shovel having an adjustable handle. The handle can be adjusted relative to the blade within a range of a certain angle via an arcuate slot on the blade.

United States patent publication No. 20170218584 discloses a single improved snow shovel and pusher combination with eight adjustable settings that is capable of providing the user an opportunity to adjust it according to their need during the process of snow removal from ground or the surface to be cleaned. The design provides eight selectable options to the user to change the angle of the blade body relative to the ground by giving a twist of the D shaped hand grip.

United States patent publication No. 20070013198 discloses a snow shovel having a blade and a shaft. The blade is connected to the shaft with a yoke mechanism for pivotally retaining the shovel blade at various side to side angles relative to the shaft. The shovel blade is pivotable relative to the shaft in a horizontal plane on a vertical central blade axis perpendicular to the working surface.

SUMMARY

There is still a need to improve or simplify the design of a snow shovel for ease of use, and meanwhile to provide a tool with flexibility to accommodate to different working conditions and to help curl and throw snow to desired directions.

According to one aspect, there is provided a snow shovel comprising an elongated shaft, a blade movably coupled to the shaft, a lock mechanism for locking the shaft to the blade and a lock release means having a spring-loaded cable running through the elongated shaft. Upon pulling upward the spring-loaded cable, the lock mechanism is released and the blade can be adjusted relative to the shaft.

In another aspect, the lock mechanism comprise a plurality of notches located on a back surface of the blade and a locking bar attached to the spring-loaded cable. When the locking bar is received in one of the notches upon a spring force, the blade is locked to the shaft. When the locking bar is withdrew from the notch upon pulling upward of the spring-loaded cable, the locking bar is released from the notch. The blade can be rotated relative to the shaft.

In another aspect, the pluralities of notches are configured to located at positions to allow the blade to rotate to different angles along a plane parallel with the edge of the blade, as well as a plane perpendicular to the edge of the blade.

In a further aspect, the snow shovel comprises three handles with two having a D-shape and one having a T-shape.

In another aspect, the blade of the snow shovel further comprises a pair of end plates perpendicular to the straight edges and extending from the two curved edges.

According to another aspect, a method of using a snow shovel having a shaft and blade is provided. The method comprising steps: pulling upward a spring-loaded cable; releasing a locking mechanism by withdrawing a locking bar from one of a plurality of notches on the blade; rotating the blade relative to the shaft and locking the blade to the shaft. The blade can be rotated along a plane parallel with one edge of the blade, as well as a plane perpendicular to the edge of the blade.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the invention is claimed in the concluding portions hereof, example embodiments are provided in the accompanying detailed description which may be best understood in conjunction with the accompanying diagrams where like parts in each of the several diagrams are labeled with like numbers, and where:

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a snow shovel according to one aspect;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the snow shovel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the snow shovel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of the snow shovel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a blade portion of the snow shovel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing of the snow shovel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a an enlarged view of a blade portion of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a side perspective view of another embodiment of a snow shovel; and

FIG. 9 is a side perspective view of a further embodiment of a snow shovel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 7, a snow shovel 100 according to one aspect is described in detail. The snow shovel 100 may comprise an elongated shaft 102 and a blade 104 pivotally coupled to the shaft 102. The shaft 102 has a blade end 106 a and a handle end 106 b. A first D-shape handle 108 may be coupled to the handle end 106 b, and the blade 104 may be coupled to the blade end 106 a of the shaft 102. The blade 104 may have a concave front surface 110 for receiving and holding snow and a convex rear surface 112 for engaging with the shaft 102. The blade 104 may have two parallel straight edges 113 a and 113 b, one 113a of which is used to contact the ground or surface having snow and needed to be cleaned.

The rear surface 112 of the blade 104 may have a protrusion 114 around a central area for engaging with the shaft 102. The protrusion 114 may have a hole to receive the blade end 106 a of the shaft 102. The shaft 102 is movably and/or pivotally fastened to the rear surface 112 of the blade 104. For example, the blade 104 may by attached to the shaft 102 by a pin such as a clevis pin. A clevis fork joint part may be used to couple the blade 104 and the shaft 102 together. The joint part may be inserted into a slot on the back of the blade 104 and the pin may be inserted into the fork joint part to secure the shaft 102 and the blade 104 together. The blade 104 and the shaft 102 may rotate freely around the pin.

In one aspect, the blade 104 may comprise a plurality of main notches 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, 120 d and 120 e in the protrusion 114, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In this aspect, there are five notches or channels 120 a-e, which is merely an example. Other aspects may have more or less notches. The notches 120 a-e may be located at various angles along an edge of the protrusion 114. In this aspect, the protrusion 114 comprises a semicircular shape and the notches 120 are perpendicular to the curved edge of the semicircle. A locking bar 130 may be inserted into one of the notches in order to secure the blade at a particular angle with respect to the shaft 102. One or more springs (not shown) may retain the locking bar 130 in the respective notch 120. The locking bar 130 may be coupled to the blade end 106 a of the shaft 102 and movable along a longitudinal direction of the shaft 102. The position of the notch 120 can define a blade angle of the blade 104 relative to the shaft 102 such that the blade 104 may rotate the edge 113 a with respect to a surface defined by the ground.

When the locking bar 130 is withdrawn from one notch 120 as described in further detail below, the shaft 102 along with the locking bar 130 may move freely relative to the blade 104. When the locking bar 130 has been inserted into another notch 120, the shaft 102 becomes fixed or locked in position by the locking bar 130 at a different blade angle. In this way, the blade 104 may be rotated to a different blade angle at a pivot point at the blade end 106 a of the shaft 102.

In one aspect, the snow shovel 100 may have at least three main notches 120. In the example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, there are five main notches 120 a-e. The outermost notch 120 a may be configured to define a blade angle of +45-degrees between the blade 104 and the shaft 102. The second notch 120 b may be configured to define a blade angle of approximate +25-degrees. In this aspect, these two blade notches 120 a, 120 b may have corresponding notches 120 c, 120 d on the opposite side of the protrusion 114 defining blade angles of −25-degrees and −45-degrees respectively. A central notch between the blade notches 120 a-b and 120 c-d defines a blade angle of 0-degrees. Of course, those persons skilled in the art would understand on reviewing the description herein that the positions of the notches can be configured to define any different blade angles for meeting the desired requirements.

With these configurations, the blade 104 can be adjusted to a different angle relative to the shaft 102. The adjustable blade angle may allow users to push snow easily to different directions such as to a 30-degree or a 45-degree direction on either side.

In another aspect, the snow shovel 100 may have a plurality of secondary notches in a direction perpendicular to the edges 113 a and 113 b. The secondary notches may define an pitch angle of approximate 7-degrees to approximately 10-degrees of a rotation angle along a plane perpendicular to the edges 113 a and 113 b of the blade 104.

The snow shovel 100 may further comprise a release shown more clearly in FIG. 6. The release may comprise a spring-loaded cable 140. The cable 140 may run through an interior of the shaft 102. A first end of the cable 140 may be attached to the locking bar 130 and a second end of the cable 140 may pass through an orifice at the handle end 106 b of the shaft 102. A grip 142 may be attached to the second end of the cable for holding the cable on the handle end 106 b against the spring that locks the locking bar 130 in the notch 120 a-e. Upon pulling the spring-loaded cable 140 along the shaft 102 by the grip 142, the locking bar 130 may be withdrawn from its original notch so that the blade 104 may be rotated relative to the shaft 102. In another aspect, a second spring-loaded cable (not shown), a second locking bar, and the second set of notches operating in a similar manner may adjust the pitch angle of the blade 104.

In another aspect, in addition to a first handle 108 having a D-shape at the handle end 106 b of the shaft 102, the snow shovel 100 may have a second reinforced handle 118 along the shaft 102 from the first handle 108. The second handle may be a T-shape bar generally perpendicular to the shaft 102 for assisting the control of the snow shovel when pushing snow to a side direction such as a 30-degree or 45-degree direction.

In another aspect, the snow shovel 100 may have a lift handle 128 located along the shaft 102 from the second handle 118. The lift handle 128 may be a D-shape and located on a top surface of the shaft 102 when the shovel 100 is in an in-use configuration. Alternatively, the lift handle 128 may have an angle between 0-degrees to 90-degrees relative to an upward direction of the shaft 102 with an angle being selected to facilitate ease of lifting a quantity of snow in the blade 104. This handle is easy to grip and assists lifting or piling of snow.

In a further aspect, the blade 104 may have a pair of flared/curled end plates 150 a and 150 b extending from the two curved sides of the blade 104 respectively, as shown in FIG. 8. The end plates 150 a-b may assist in holding snow in the blade 104, especially when throwing snow further to side directions.

Although aspects described herein provide a snow shovel 100 having two D-shape handles 108, 128 and one T-shape bar handle 118, it is understood by those persons skilled in the art on review of this description that the handles are not limited to these particular configurations. The shovel 100 may have two bar handles as shown in FIG. 9.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all such suitable changes or modifications in structure or operation which may be resorted to are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed invention. 

1. A snow shovel comprising: an elongated shaft having a handle end and a blade end; a blade pivotally coupled to the blade end of the shaft; a lock mechanism for fixing a blade angle between the shaft and the blade; a lock release having a spring-loaded cable running through the elongated shaft from the handle end to the blade end; and wherein exerting tension on the spring-loaded cable releases the lock mechanism thereby permitting adjustment of the blade angle.
 2. The snow shovel of claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism comprise a plurality of notches located on a back surface of the blade and a locking bar attached to the spring-loaded cable, the locking bar being received in at least one of the plurality of notches upon a spring force toward the at least one of the plurality of notches at a lock position.
 3. The snow shovel of claim 1, wherein the lock mechanism comprise a plurality of main notches in a direction parallel to at least one edge of the blade, and a plurality of secondary notches perpendicular to the at least one edge of the blade.
 4. The snow shovel of claim 2, wherein the plurality of notches are located at a protrusion in a central area on a back surface of the blade.
 5. The snow shovel of claim 3, wherein the pluralities of main notches are located at positions to allow the blade to rotate different angles relative to the shaft along a plane parallel to the at least one edge of the blade.
 6. The snow shovel of claim 5, wherein an outmost notch allows the blade to rotate a maximum of approximate 45-degrees relative to the shaft.
 7. The snow shovel of claim 3, wherein the plurality of secondary notches are located at positions to allow the blade to rotate through different angles relative to the shaft along a plane perpendicular to the at least one edge of the blade.
 8. The snow shovel of claim 7, wherein an outmost notch allows the blade to rotate a maximum of approximate 10-degrees relative to the shaft.
 9. The snow shovel of claim 1, wherein the releasing means comprise a grip held at the handle end of the shaft.
 10. The snow shovel of claim 1, further comprising a first D-shaped handle coupled to the handle end of the shaft.
 11. The snow shovel of claim 10, further comprising a second T-shaped bar handle located below the first handle.
 12. The snow shovel of claim 11, further comprising a third D-shaped handle located below the second handle, the third D-shaped handle being perpendicular to the shaft or having an angle between 0-degrees to 90-degrees relative to an upward direction of the shaft.
 13. The snow shovel of claim 1, wherein the blade has a concave front surface for holding snow, a convex rear surface for engaging with the shaft, a pair of parallel straight edges, and a pair of parallel curved edges.
 14. The snow shovel of claim 13, further comprising a pair of end plates perpendicular to the at least one edge and extending from the two curved edges.
 15. A method of using a snow shovel having an elongated shaft having a handle end and a blade end, a blade pivotally coupled to the blade end of the shaft, a locking mechanism for fixing a blade angle between the shaft and the blade, a lock release having a spring-loaded cable running through the elongated shaft from the handle end to the blade end, the method comprises: exerting tension on the spring-loaded cable; releasing the locking mechanism; adjusting the blade angle by rotating the blade relative to the shaft; and locking the blade to the shaft.
 16. The method of using the snow shovel of claim 15, wherein releasing the locking mechanism comprises withdrawing the locking bar from one of a plurality of notches.
 17. The method of using the snow shovel of claim 16, wherein rotating the blade comprises rotating the blade along a plane parallel to at least one edge of the blade.
 18. The method of using the snow shovel of claim 17, wherein rotating the blade comprising rotating the blade along a plane perpendicular to the at least one edge of the blade.
 19. The method of using the snow shovel of claim 16, wherein locking the blade comprise releasing the spring-loaded cable and inserting a locking bar into one of the plurality of notches. 